Chances
by hansuh
Summary: Garp may have retired but he can still recognize suspicious pirate activity. Warlords or not pirates are always pirates, aren't they? Garp/Mihawk


**Chances**

Suddenly his life had come to end. He was trapped in his body, keeping everything seemingly going by now automatic reactions. Endless flood of congratulations and drinking parties had followed after the funeral and reflexively he greeted everyone and everything with a grinning face. Countless friends and comrades showered him with praises which echoed inside his emptiness. Praises of his remarkable career.

This night was among many of those where he found himself sitting in a bar with people he knew, having been dragged along after bumping into them. And on every occasion he was forced to wade through the amazing life of Monkey D. Garp - the Hero of the Marines - time after time. Laughter, music and faces spun around in a painful mess. Inside everything was still.

It had been few weeks since he had asked to resign. Few weeks since the boy... Roger's boy ... His boy, had - No, he wouldn't dwell on it. He refused to feel bad about Ace's sacrifice. It had been his own choise and he would bloody appreciate it. Time would help him cope with the pain. He knew it too well.

Garp excused himself from his company, some former subordinates, made his way through the room filled with the smell of alcohol, sweat and sex and managed to get himself into the men's room before breaking down. He pulled himself together quickly. He washed his face with ice-cold water and sighed. He really didn't feel like explaning red puffy eyes to anyone. He focused his attention to his surroundings. Neat and clean, nothing too fancy - but clean.

As a man of the marines and after countless off-duty nights in different port towns he had seen some of the humblest drinking establishments in existence and he knew to appreciate a relatively sanitary environment. Just after a particularry horrid memory had made him wince the door opened.

"Garp! Come on!" said a man who he had served in the same base with for a while a hundred years ago "We have some interesting people in here tonight."

As they made their way back to their table his companion pointed out Donquixote Doflamingo and his underlings, no doubt attracted to the location by the 'dancer's' of the place, some of whom did a more profitable little side-business besides performing. Or so they had, Garp frowned - the performance room had been burned down recently by an extreme religious group and apparently there hadn't been any performances lately because of the lack of stage and frightened dancers who were being violently attacked. The Shichibukai seemed to be waiting for something. Or rather someone as Garp was about to see.

He was surprised when a dark figure slid among the chaos of the merry people and made his way to the other warlord. Despite the distance, as if having sniffed out the marines even through the turbulent room, he was tracked by the newcomer's eyes. Heh, there was a man who was quick to eveluate his surroundings. He didn't have a high opinion on the Seven Warlord's of the Sea but the world's greatest swordsman was definitely one to keep. Without his current position Hawk-Eyes could be tempted to seek one which would be of considerable disadvantage to the Marines. The swordsman was one of their most important information sources.

Same couldn't be said for the other present warlord. Doflamingo was among the lowest pirate scum. Slave trade, prostitution, illegal weapons and drugs - and no morals, position or no position. Dangerous but somewhat predictable because of his greed. Garp watched Doflamingo tear himself off his chair with a sleazy smile as he saw Hawk-Eyes approaching him. What business did these two have with eachother? He decided to follow when the two men left the room. He trailed after them to the terrace which was out of use because the fire had damaged it too.

The two men moved so far that he couldn't tail them further without risking to be discovered, so he had to stop at the doorway. He could see their silhouettes against the calm sea which was reflecting the town's bright lights. Their rendevouz didn't last long, Hawk-Eyes gave some sort of documents to his extravagant-looking company who after receiving them seemed to have interest of continuing the meeting in more intimate atmosphere, but the man's only answer was an unhilted sword's cold blade. Garp moved back in the hallway as he saw that rejected Doflamingo was about the make his exit, but his path was blocked by a very... ample obstable.

"Oh my," the woman purred, twirling a silky curl around her nimble fingers. "You must be the legendary Vice Admiral Garp! What an honour it is for a simple lil' girl like me to meet you!" More words flowed from her carefully painted lips but he wasn't listening. He reckoned that she hadn't bumped into him just by accident - they were in an isolated area after all. Furthermore, even if he was a rather wellknown figure it was odd that a random young woman - a girl really, from his point of view at least - from a random port town should know him by name. It was all too familiar though. He had seen her before in many faces.

In his wild youth as a quickly advancing marine he would have and had welcomed any young attractive flirtatious woman or man so forthcoming into his bed - which was undoubtedly a destination marked on this female's route. But not anymore. Not in a long time actually. Painted girls and low-cut dresses had stopped having an effect on him. Infact he had even felt repulsed once he had realized how empty those shells were. He had had his fun, that was part of being young but there came a time when a man needed something more than that.

Heavy footsteps alerted the marine. Crap, Doflamingo. He hastily weighed his options while the little woman continued with her advances. Garp grabbed her arm and pulled her into the nearest unlocked room with him, silencing her with a hand over her mouth as gently he could bother at the moment and waited for the 'Scum of the Sea' pass by. He wanted to have a word with Hawk-Eyes if possible - the dark man being by far the most reasonable of the options - but he was stopped by the grip of a dainty hand.  
>"Sorry Missy," he said firmly "I'm a little busy here - once a marine always a marine I suppose. You go off somewhere safer now."<p>

The woman blinked her eyes in confusion but recovered quickly and flashed him a smile and a sultry look, sliding a small hand up his chest.

"That's really too bad... but we really should see eachother later-"

"You should really be going. Missy, I hate to turn you down like this but you're just not my type." He almost laughed out loud when he saw how puzzled the little lady was now. She still believed that beauty and fortune overpowered anything else in life and had a hard time getting why her charms weren't working - so she drew the only conclusion she could based on her view of how the world worked.

"Oh! You like men, you should have said so! I already know a friend I can hook you up with-"

"What? No! I mean... Just go, it's not safe to be here right now."

The retired marine finally managed to send her on her way and grunted. If only Hawk-Eyes hadn't taken off yet... A chuckle echoed in the dim light and Garp looked at the warlord standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame in a calculated nonchalant manner.

"I wouldn't have cut your pretty little thing Vice Admiral."

"I'd like to ask a few questions from you, Dracule Mihawk."

"Ah, my bad - not your type, wasn't that right? Do you have a boy toy waiting for you to come back?"

"Hardly." Garp growled. "Could we get to business here?" Hawk-Eyes continued measuring him up, the Black Sword gleaming cold light.

"Anything goes?"

"What did you give to Doflamingo just now?"

"Hm." Seeing that the man wouldn't be provoked Hawk-Eyes grinned coldly and retreated back outside. "I thought you had retired from your duties, Vice Admiral?"

"I still hold my rank don't I?" Garp strode after him. "Being retired won't make me walk away when I see pirate wretches plotting something - Shichibukai or not. What was on those papers you gave him?"

"Do not put me on the same level with Doflamingo." The man shot a sharp look at him over his shoulder. "Would you enlighten me as to why I'm going to tell you?"

"You get a warm fuzzy feeling."

"And doing the right thing and being honest will get you through life." The warlord rolled his eyes, unimpressed - but proceeded nonetheless. "Blackmail material."

"What exactly?"

"Documents; awfully technical stuff, and few photographs."  
>"And who's your victim?"<p>

"'Victim' is not a word I would use to describe that man, and I don't have any other part in this blackmail plot besides providing Doflamingo with material - which I did gladly."

"Name, Hawk-Eyes."

Instead of talking the warlord offered Garp what the older man thought to be backup copies of the material, and followed the marine's reactions carefully while he inspected it. Garp was shocked by the content. The name wasn't a new one to him but the evidence was. Indeed - it was evidence. Pictures and reports from crimescenes - and what kind of crimescenes. Even the Hero of the Marines was nearly speechless.

"Why haven't these been presented in trials? There are bases here for at least three different charges and even one of them could get this man in Impel Down.

"He has bribed the jurisdiction surrounding him I was in the right place at the right time and I 'salvaged' these from being destroyed."

"Why give them to Doflamingo?"

"Must I explain every single thing I do to you?"

"I want to understand why exactly you haven't delivered these to the proper authorities, even when you obviously know how important it is!"

"I have."

"You have?"

"I only ask that you keep them to yourself for a while before giving them in." Hawk-Eyes requested from the suspicious marine. "Let Doflamingo roast him first. You know what a crazy sadistic bastard he is. He'll be his match and more, and they'll also keep eachother busy... Besides, if presented alone in the worst case that material could be overlooked because of the questionable sources and there wouldn't even be a trial. If you want to put this man in Impel Down you need to gather fresh cases around these."

Garp was quiet for a long while, staring at the warlord's back.

"Why did you choose to become a pirate?" he couldn't help but blurt out the question which suddenly had started to bother him. It seemed to run in the family.

"It was not a choise."

"I'd imagine you had alternatives. You were an army officer once." The warlord turned to face him, annoyed.

"He took my choise away. I refused to destroy evidence and I had to be eliminated."

"Are you trying to tell me by that, that you weren't the one who killed two dozen people in the fort you served in, stole the valuables and burned the place down?"

"Conveniently killing my eye-witnes and destroying all the key evidence, on the very night of the day it was announced that the case was going through. I'd like to know if anyone ever thought that it was a bit fishy."

"I see." Garp frowned, scratching the back of his head. "Fine, I'll hold onto these and find someone who has good leads on him."

"Maybe you retired too early, Vice Admiral?" Hawk-Eyes smiled slyly. "Stalking pirates and interrogating them in the middle of a drinking night and all..." the warlord tutted. Garp laughed dryly.

"Many years too late. If I had had a life I would have realized that before it was too late. Now I have nothing to retire to."

"You can always follow your grandson's exploits." the warlord offered.

"Luffy..." Garp grimaced. "One beautiful day I'm going to die of a heart attack because of him..."

"Yes, he was very... willful, even back then." Hawk-Eyes mused, thinking back to his first encounter with the Strawhat captain.

"What do you mean?"

"He and his charming little crew happened on my way while I was amusing myself with some puny rookie pirates." the swordsman grinned. He thought that the tint of worry in the hardened man at the mention of his grandson was adorable. The vice admiral had always been an interesting figure to him.

"I don't even want to know..." Garp huffed tiredly and crossed his hands.

Mihawk took in his companion's appearance as the marine looked at the horizon where the sun had set with flaming colours few hours ago. His face was solemn, which was a strange look on someone who was very far from austere but the calmness seemed to radiate naturally from him. This person was a vice admiral after all - could have been an admiral if he had wanted - someone who his crew had to be able to look up to and trust in. He moved cautiously closer to him.

He remembered seeing him with black hair and beard at certain excecution twenty years ago. The marine's skin had been darkened by the sun and sea-air from those times. It definitely didn't look bad. Not bad at all. Gaze trailing on the strong jawline and thick neck, Mihawk realized how up he was looking. Garp rose easily a head or two above him. He was used to seeing colossal characters on his journeys, but Garp was one of the few who truly stood tall. Mihawk's hand wandered over his satchel, hesitantly fiddling with the open buckle.

"I'm sure your lady friend from before has found you a cute little boy to play with by now." he said.

Garp chuckled.

"Not very likely... A silly little girl like that couldn't possibly find a match for me." Mihawk's hand slid into his bag.

"Then... If you don't have any other company," he said tentatively, pulling out a bottle of rum. "how about you join me for a drink?" A wide grin spread on the marine's face as he inspected the bottle.

"Good God man, first major evidence and now superb rum, what else do you have in there?"

"Your average pirate scoundrel things..." Mihawk flashed a luring half-smile and uncorked the bottle, offering it to the older man.

Garp had picked up on the change of the mood and looked at the warlord thoughtfully while taking a good swig of the rum which burnt him pleasantly.

"How is the taste? It's been a while since I last drank it." The swordsman asked with a silky voice. Garp raised an eyebrow, inspectng the other man's bright eyes.

"Go on and sample it yourself then." He passed the bottle back to the Shichibukai who accepted it, caressing his hand while he did so. He waited eagerly for the response. Mihawk ignored the glassy container and instead brought his body together with the marine's and slung one arm around his neck while he peered into the slightly thrown vice admiral's eyes. A devious smile gracing his red lips he soon pressed them on the marine's roughened ones. The younger man was anxious that he might have rattle his cage too much so he was more than delighted when Garp leaned into the kiss and traced his back and sides slowly with his hands.

The wide palms felt good gliding on his body. He could feel the heart inside the other man's broad chest beat quicker, but every sensation was soon overpowered by need for air. They parted and he smiled up at the other man who answered with a grin. The swordsman swung the bottle up and drank.

"Definitely wanting more of that." he drawled and licked his lips.

"...I'm going to do horrible things to you if you're talking about the rum." Garp grumbled and slid his hands down from Mihawk's hips, squeezing hard. The warlord's lively laugh echoed in the empty space and he was rewarded with more kisses, shorter but more passionate. Garp grunted, hot breath teasing his neck and the other man's thigh rubbing him through his trousers. He put his hands on Mihawk's shoulders, pushed them apart gently and tried to get a grip on himself.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He panted, the blushed face and the alluring look in the younger man's eyes nearly made him forget his thoughts. "It's just... if this is going to continue I want a bed. You'll understand very well when you're my age." The warlord smirked.

"A marvelous idea, although I could have definitely made you forget all about any pains..." Garp snorted and shoved a hotel room key into his hand.

"I'll let the guys know I'm ditching them for a piece of ass."

"How degrading." the warlord muttered, making his way out. "Don't take too long..."

Garp watched him go, following the slight sensuous swinging of his hips and biting his own lip. What had he gotten himself into? He would think of the consequenses later, the only thing he would focus on now was banging the sexiest thing he had seen in a long long while. He shook his head and took a deep breath before striding out to find his company. It looked like he hadn't missed anything. He couldn't believe they were still going on about all the crazy stunts he had pulled off over his years in the marines - not that there weren't plenty to talk about. '_I've always headed straight for the trouble haven't I..._' he mused.

When he left he could hear them yelling cheers for him and taking guesses on which of the lovely young ladies and a couple of gentlemen buzzing around he was taking back with him. He smirked to himself. If they only knew how much luckier he was. Hawk-Eyes was real, flesh, blood and a spirit - not a shell covered in make-up and jewellery with a vacant mind moulded according to company. He almost sighed at the memory of how good that toned body had felt, how slender the strong waist seemed under his big weathered palms. And those eyes... he was most turned on by how the man stared straight at him with this not-taking-any-crap look in them. He wasn't trying to use him for anything, he was a man in his own right - a powerful one.


End file.
